Could I achieve this dream and how do I convince my mother t

[Little Miss Anxious]

I am from Sligo in the republic of Ireland and there is a course I want to do which is miles away in Cork, it is a Performance of Arts Fetac course level 5 and it is 200 registration but I would be studying acting skills, performance, dance or movement, miming, characterisation etc and there are drama and singing work shops and there are professional acters there who train students to act.

Now I am very good at writing stories, lyrics, I have a brilliant blues voice and I can use alot of passion and emotion when I sing and act which makes me great at both.

I am very interested in emotions and human behaviour.

So I can sing, act and write but the only problem is I am 22, I have special needs - my sense of direction isn't great, find summarisation and estimation and spatial awareness difficult and sometimes I find it hard to understand certain words or questions on a paper and sometimes find it difficult to express my answer on the page so that it will make sense but that has improved alot since.

So should I just let this dream go?

What do you think I should do?


How should I talk to my mum and I am not very street wise and haven't lived by myself before but I would love to and I have lived with one of my ex - boyfriends and I coped very well with living away from home.

Should stop dreaming and hoping and just lets this opportunity go, it is in Cork???. How would I be able to talk my mum into approving of letting me go???

[StageFighter]

Hi Amy,

Sorry if I haven't got all of your details right - I frequently find difficulty in reading large blocks of informative text. My name is Tom, I am dyspraxic to a moderate level - something which wasn't spotted until I was 20 and at Uni - I am now 25. I don't if what I have to say will help you, but maybe it will give you something to think about. Obviously dyspraxia manifests itself differently in different people. For me it effects all sorts of areas, not severly, but enough to at times over years cause me a great deal of anxiety and stress - it made me very dispondant about all sorts of activities, particularly physical ones - school sport was torture for me - but once I discovered the cause for all this I starting making an effort (mostly in terms of physical co-ordination) to work hard at overcoming these problems. I have always been a musician and an actor and have always been drawn to creative pursuits.
I play several instruments and did youth theatre as a kid, etc.
I went to drama school (a foundation course) where I studied acting, dancing, singing, physical performance, etc. In a creative environment, I found a chance to really explore the physcial movements that I found so difficult and I began to find some success in them. I started stage combat there as part of our classes, I didn't do particularly well at it, but I enjoyed it and continued with it after drama school. After that I went on to study Film and Theatre at university and came away with a degree, I kept going with my stage combat here and there and also began studying martial arts - I have now done a few and I would recommend some kind of regular physical training to anyone who finds physical co-ordination difficult as a result of being dyspraxic - its helped me immensly. Anyway (sorry I tend to ramble, get side tracked and then go blank)... So I did all that and then went on to become a professional actor. Not only that, but I have overcome my physical limitations through training martial arts, stage combat and a little bit of dance (even ballet) to the point where I was able to begin an apprenticeship as a stage combat instructor. I am now a professionally recognised stage combat instructor and fight choreograper, teaching other actors both within and oustide drama schools and working in the industry. I also work as a professional actor and have spent much of the last 2 years touring in Shakespeare productions.

Now I don't know if any of that helps. If you are thinking of continuing on into any part of the industry, I won't say its easy, its hard work, but I guess what I saying, is I've kind of been there in a round about way and its working out for me ok. I'm dyspraxic, but I've stuck with it and I wouldn't change it for the world. If its what you really want, stick with your dream. Don't be afraid to ask for help - especially when keeping yourself organised - that goes for while you're doing your course too.

Hope that helps in some small way.

All the best and good luck!

Tom

p.s. hi to all at the forum - this is my first post